In the past 50 years wetland design and development has changed quite a bit. By evaluating the topography and incorporating water movement and flood depth into our design we can get a better bang for our buck.

Well, it is about that time. I’m sure you all are anxious to see what this year’s waterfowl season has in store. I know I am. As we await the opener, my mind wanders and I begin to think about the number of birds produced this summer… in the northern prairies, but also right here in own our backyard.

The last two weeks have been quite productive from a construction standpoint, but the reason for so much of this time and effort showed up this week...DUCKS! With the addition of water into Unit A the ducks have once again arrived in fair numbers and are utilizing the freshly flooded areas.

For those of you who read this blog on a regular basis, thanks. I hope this has been helpful, informative and exciting to see things progress at Duck Creek. I know some of you have heard talk of Duck Creek renovations for almost 20 years. Well, I’d say it is finally happening.

Salutations, steady progress continues straight through September. Silviculture, soils and structure work have all moved ahead as we’ve sneaked by without most of the state’s significant rainfall in the last two weeks.

Early Canada goose hunting is allowed at Duck Creek following statewide regulations. Procedures will be basically the same as teal season. There will be a draw for positions in Units A and Unit B on Saturday, Oct. 2 and Sunday, Oct. 3. Draw time will be 4:45.

It has been a busy week for the staff at Duck Creek, as you can see from this post and the previous one. Things are moving forward, and that is GREAT news. The contractors moved in this week and started working on the Ditch 1/111 structure on the west side of Pool 1. Access to Unit A from the east is closed because of construction.

The construction of the water control structure continues to move forward. The scattered rain that has fallen at Duck Creek and the surrounding areas has only knocked the dust down a bit and made some areas a little sloppier.

Although things have been quite wet elsewhere in the state, thankfully the rain clouds haven’t dumped on Duck Creek. This has allowed the contractors to make progress with installing the new structure.

Mast surveys are done every year at Duck Creek to get an idea of the annual hard-mast production. Hard mast, or acorns, provide valuable food resources to wildlife and are the foundation of tomorrow’s overstory. This year’s acorn production looks better than it has for the last few years.

This week we started some timber stand improvement (TSI) work on the area. Although this isn't “renovation work” in the sense of construction, it is work being done to improve the habitat on Duck Creek in the long-term...so in a way you could still classify it as “renovation work.” Below is a little background on why we are cutting down some trees in order to “turn a new leaf” and make room for the future timber stand at Duck Creek.

It has been a busy week for the staff at Duck Creek. Things are moving forward, and that is GREAT news. The contractors moved in this week and started working on the Ditch 1/111 structure on the west side of Pool 1. Unit A from the east is closed from the Pool 1 road because of construction.

In the previous post we received a question about planting trees on Dark Cypress. Since our resource forester, Ross Glenn, had a couple pictures along with his response, we figured we would just answer the question with an individual post. Check out what Ross had to say about the trees on Dark Cypress below.

Last year at this time field conditions at Duck Creek were just getting to the point where staff could begin manipulating the soil to make usable habitat for waterfowl. This year is a much different story.

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